“Big Mac” Macarons

A year ago I never would have guessed that Helen would be coming out for a visit to teach us all about proper macaron making. It’s amazing how much can happen in a year. Helen’s visit was perfect—just in time for us all to hone our skills so that we could properly celebrate today! This is not a holiday that can be celebrated at the last minute if you are making your own macarons. My preparations for today’s celebration began several days ago with separating the egg whites for my macarons. They aged for 24 hours at room temperature, and then for about another 46 hours in the refrigerator. Yesterday I ground my almonds, and proceeded with making my macaron batter. Then I carefully piped out little circles of batter onto my silpat and let them rest.

Finally they went into the oven and I did a little giddy dance as they grew feet, and then grew less giddy as the feet turned into skirts.

I had a problem with my macarons sticking to my silpat, so I used a trick that Helen taught me a while back. I put them back into the still hot oven, closed the oven door, and turned off the heat. There the macarons stayed until the end of the day. While I waited, I mixed up a batch of chocolate ganache and a batch of white chocolate plastic (like chocolate modeling clay). Finally it was time to assemble my macarons. Their time in the cooling oven had worked its magic, and the macarons peeled qoff of the silpat easily. They’re not perfect, but they’ll do!

Today is no ordinary macaron day, so I wanted to do something extra special. Now that Spring has arrived (at least it has here in Southern California!), my thoughts have been turning to picnics, and outdoor barbecues. So today’s macarons are inspired by those thoughts and the most recent Mac Tweets challenge. I’ve affectionately named them “Big Macs” (pun intended). I sprinkled the “buns” with sesame seeds. The hamburger patties are made from chocolate ganache, and the lettuce and tomato are made from the white chocolate plastic (with red and green food coloring kneaded in it). Ok, enough talking, I’m craving a Big Mac. I’m off to celebrate!

I am in the town, where as a little girl, I ate my first big mac the day they were introduced. I would love to try one of your big macs on the day they were introduced. I’m sure they have addictive powers!

Wow these are absolutely amazing! I love the little sesame sprinkles on top, so cute! And hey, I didn’t realize the 20th of March was Macaron day! Total coincidence then that I posted some Chestnut Creme Macarons on my blog today :-)

This was more than just a simple sticking that a bit of water would take care of. The interior of the macs weren’t quite cooked, which I didn’t realize until I had pulled them out and let them cool slightly. So it was either the oven trick, or scraping them off of the silpat and turning them into ice cream topping! LOL

The little burgers are so funny. I love making macaroons but haven’t hit the success stage yet. Will keep trying. A French friend of mine recommends a flat sieve for sifting the ground almonds. You can buy them from restaurant supply stores.

Now that you’ve Americanized the mac, maybe you can do a French version, mac n’ cheese (oh, maybe that’s American too). Perhaps a Japanese version, mac shimi. I’m sure it would be delicate and classy. Love your creativity.